Hollywood on the Mon: Moore flick latest to be filmed here

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Movie trucks will be as commonplace as potholes on local streets the next few months.

The horror-thriller "Shelter," starring Oscar-nominated actress Julianne Moore ("Boogie Nights," "Far From Heaven"), is set to start shooting in the city in late March, becoming the latest in a series of movie productions to set up shop in the region.

Already shooting this year is the film "Zack & Miri Make a Porno," directed by Kevin Smith and starring "Superbad'' co-star and writer Seth Rogen. The big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," starring Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen, is set to start filming this month.

"Shelter," from a story by British writer Michael Cooney (2003's "Identity"), is being directed by Swedish duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, whose movie "Storm" was a best film nominee by the Swedish Film Institute last year. "Shelter" has a $22 million to $25 million budget, according to the trade publication Variety.

It is financed by Nala Films, the Los Angeles-based company behind last year's "In the Valley of Elah" and "The Air I Breathe."

Nala was likely seduced by the film and TV incentives credits the state approved last summer, giving production companies spending the bulk of their budget in Pennsylvania 25 percent back in tax credits. As of December, $9.3 million in incentives were supporting $37 million in Pittsburgh-area spending, according to the Pennsylvania Film Office.

"Shelter," said Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer, "is a project we worked on for 18 months." She said the movie will shoot for two to three months, starting March 31, and indicated more Pittsburgh movie announcements could be coming in the spring.

"Shelter" star Ms. Moore has appeared in almost 50 films since the early 1990s, including "Short Cuts," "The Big Lebowski," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Magnolia," "Hannibal," "Laws of Attraction" and "Children of Men." She received Academy Award nominations for "Far From Heaven," "The Hours," "The End of the Affair" and "Boogie Nights."